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Keeping it in the family

The Lipe family works year round, but only has five months to make a living. Working a 70-to-80 hour week is not uncommon and manual labor is expected. But, to 76-year-old Rose Lipe, it's the part of her life she enjoys most.

After Rose Lipe's husband, Wilburn, died last year, she took over the family-run orchard with the help of her children and grandchildren.

Lipe Orchards, which is located on Springer Ridge Road, has been a family business for more than 120 years. Wilburn Lipe's grandparents started the orchard in the 1880s, and his parents took over 40 years later.

During this time, the business was primarily wholesale and the fresh fruit grown by the Lipes was shipped to Chicago.

Then about 75 years ago, Wilburn Lipe's father bought a small building on Old Illinois Route 51 near Boskydell Road to make shipping and packing easier.

The small white building still stands today only blocks away from the 100-acre orchard, and since Wilburn and Rose Lipe took over in 1950, the business is exclusively retail.

Two of Rose Lipe's daughters work at the store and said even though there have been a few changes over the years, the owners have always been part of the Lipe family.

Laura Lipe said she began working at the store when she was 12, but the orchards have been a part of her life since she was born.

"It's all I've ever known," Laura Lipe said. "It's just something I enjoy doing."

Laura Lipe has been a Cobden teacher for 34 years. During the school year, she continues to work at the Lipe Orchards store.

She begins her day around 4 a.m. to tend the garden and begin packing and sorting before her day of teaching begins.

She likes the break from teaching during the summer because "the peaches don't sass back like sixth graders."

And even though she works long days, she loves being able to continue on the tradition.

"I think it's pretty unique that it's been in the family so long. I know dad [Wilburn] would be proud," Laura Lipe said. "I don't know how long it will last, but I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."

Laura Lipe's sister, Sara, has been coming to the store since she was only a couple of weeks old.

"I was born in peach season, so mom [Rose] has been bringing me ever since," she said.

Even though the Lipe family has always worked at the orchard, Sara Lipe said her parents never forced it upon her and her four siblings.

"It was always up to us, but they were insistent that we go to college," Sara Lipe said.

Rose Lipe said all five of her children attended SIUC, just like her husband, Wilburn, who went to school in the mornings and worked the orchards in the day before he was drafted for War World II.

"He loved growing peaches," Rose Lipe said. "I always said there was peach juice in his blood."

Today, along with having three of her children working with her on a daily basis, four of her children live within one-quarter mile of her.

"The orchards keep our family together," she said. "It's so nice having them all so close."

Sara Lipe, who works in the front of the store with the register and customers, said even though they all have specific responsibilities "we all do a little bit of everything."

Laura and Sara Lipe's brother, Larry, does his part picking the fruits in the orchard, where they grow peaches, apples, plums, nectarines and pears. He later takes these produce items to the family store in his pick-up truck.

Growing up with the orchard as a big part of his life, Larry Lipe, along with Laura, Sara and Rose, said fresh produce is a large part of their diets.

Larry Lipe joked that he only eats the peaches within three to four minutes of being picked.

Working in the orchard with the hot Southern Illinois heat, the Lipes said they have learned ways to beat the heat.

Laura Lipe said she waits for the summer breezes, which never seem long enough. Sara and Rose Lipe said the fans circulating throughout the store help, but they have grown accustomed to the heat after all the years.

As one car pulled out of the gravel parking lot on this July day, another car quickly replaced its spot and caught Rose Lipe's attention.

She waited in anticipation to see who the next customer was.

"I like the people. We have the nicest customers," Rose Lipe said as she greeted a regular to the orchard. "I really miss this place in the wintertime."

Rose Lipe said the store is usually busy, but varies like any other business. She said she enjoys seeing familiar faces, but "loves meeting new people."

After chatting with Rose Lipe and catching up on gossip, Theda Stoelzle, who has been a regular customer for more than a decade, began shopping.

She quickly stopped at the red table filled from corner to corner with peaches and picked up four containers.

"[Peaches] are so good and sweet," Stoelzle said. "And my son loves them."

Sara Lipe came to Stoelzle's assistance and carried the peaches to the front counter as Stoelzle grabbed a bag of corn.

"It's just so friendly here," Stoelzle said. "That's why I enjoy visiting so much."

From wall to wall, the store was filled with fresh produce ranging from burpless cucumbers to seedless watermelons, which Wilburn Lipe, a diabetic, realized did not raise his blood sugar level.

After browsing throughout the store, Anne Wolfe glanced at the apple-themed clock and began putting potatoes and green beans in a bag.

Wolfe, a Carterville resident, said she has been shopping at Lipe Orchards for the past three years on her way home from outings at Cedar Lake.

"I grew up on a farm, so I know what fresh is," Wolfe said as she looked at the corn. "And this is."

Wolfe said it's not just the fresh produce and quaint environment that bring her back, but the friendly service from a "great family."

Factoid: For more information on Lipe Orchards, call 549-1263 or visit the store on Old 51 Highway just before Boskydell Road.